If someone were to walk up to you and ask you out of the blue, “How can I be saved?” what would you say?
• Would you know how to answer him? What is the one thing that you would tell him?
• You need to know. Your answer will determine where he spends eternity.
Paul and Barnabas have just returned from their first missionary trip over the Gentile world, preaching the Gospel and seeing people saved.
• Then men from Judea came (15:1) and said to these converts, “you’re not really saved yet, you need to follow the customs of the Law we got from Moses.”
• And some believers from the party of the Pharisees also added, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the Law of Moses.” (15:5)
This disturbed the group of new Gentile believers. Can I be saved?
• The Jews says it is Christ PLUS the Law in order to be fully accepted by God.
• This is understandable, for they had for many years been observing the Law to gain God’s favour. The previous way of life dictated everything from what to eat and drink, when to work, how to worship, what to sacrifice.
• Now, coming out of that background, they decided that the Gentiles must do the same things.
The apostles have to take a stand, and defend the message of the Gospel – it is all about God’s grace. You are saved by grace through faith in Christ.
• Remember this - no contribution whatsoever from men. It is Christ and Christ alone that we are accepted by God.
• His work on the Cross is a finished work! The Law cannot change you, it can only tell you that you missed the mark, and you’re still missing the mark today!
The Jews and in particular the Pharisees were very steep in the Law of Moses, but that didn’t change their lives.
• Were they better people? No. Their ‘obedience’ to the Law only brings about self-righteousness and pride.
• Look at the Gospels; they were harsh, judgemental and unforgiving. While Jesus - whom they claimed did not follow the Law because He heals on a Sabbath, did not wash his hands before meals - was compassionate, merciful and kind.
You see, the Law was not meant to change you; it just shows you how far you’ve drifted from God.
• The Law points you to Christ. Jesus fulfils the Law by living a sinless life and then dying on your behalf to satisfy its requirement – the one who sins must die.
• We are asked to focus on Christ, not the Law; we are asked to put our faith in the finished work of Christ.
We are looking at a set of photographs, photos of my friend Tom. I’ve been telling you all about my friend. Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at these photos. Then one day, as we were doing that he steps in. You saw him, but I did not acknowledge him. I carried on my talk about him, still looking at the photos.
It’s odd but that was what the Pharisees were doing then, and what many are doing today. They kept looking at the Law – a two-dimensional thing – when the three-dimensional Messiah (the One the Law points to), was standing in their midst.
We are still looking at photos of Him and talking ABOUT Him.
Paul says in Gal 3:24-25 “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”
• When we focus on the rules and rituals, we are not looking to Christ.
• FOCUS ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS!
The Galatians made the same mistake. Gal 3:1-5
1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing-if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
• Q1: How are you saved? By observing the law or by believing what you heard?
• Q2: How do you expect to grow? By your human effort, or by the Spirit?
Paul urges them to continue in the same way they began.
• You are saved by faith; we are going to grow by faith in Jesus Christ.
• We grow today relying upon the resurrection power of Christ.
• Jerry Bridges: “Faith in Christ and a reliance on ourselves, even to the smallest degree, are mutually exclusive.” (p.51 in ‘The Discipline of Grace’)
Who makes you alive? Paul says in Col 2:11-15 and Eph 2:4-10
Col 2:11-15 11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Eph 2:4-10 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Zacchaeus is a classic example of this truth (Luke 19). No rule or Law changed him. He met Christ and his life was transformed, almost overnight.
• He was a chief tax-collector. The whole town knew him to be a cheat and a sinner. Jesus called him down from the tree and said He wanted to go to his house.
• Everyone sees him a sinner; Jesus sees him as someone whom God loves. He extended love and grace, and Zacchaeus was changed. It was inside out, not outside-in.
No one asked him to give to the poor; no one said he has to repay those he cheated.
• He did it because he has changed. His heart has been transformed by the love and grace of God. He used to love money and use people; now he uses money and love people.
• Jesus summed it well: “Today salvation has come to this house…” (Luke 19:9)
• How was he saved? The Law did not save him. He did not go through any training course, attend a course on morality, or undergo hours of counselling.
• He was changed by faith in Jesus. He was touched by the grace of God.
LOVE A PERSON INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD
It is the love and the grace of God that has the power to change your life.
• Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…”
We have this thinking that sinners are sinners because they DO wrong things. And therefore saints are saints because they DO righteous things.
• But the Bible says we sin because we are sinners. We are saints not because we DO good things, but because Christ died for our sin and granted us forgiveness.
• We are righteous, not by virtues of good works but by the sheer grace of God.
A rich ruler came to Jesus and asked, “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18)
• He said all the commandments I have kept since he was a boy. Jesus wasn’t keen about that. “Sell everything you have and give to the poor.”
• He has a problem. He is not willing to surrender his life to God. He is relying upon his own self-righteousness and efforts. His god could well be his wealth.
• If you want to rely on your own efforts, Jesus will let you walk away.
When Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council, came to Jesus for answers, he was told, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3)
• It is not about turning over a new leaf, or trying harder, or doing a make-over. It is about a new birth, a change of nature entirely. Jesus Christ did that. He said, “I am the life.” (John 14:6c)
Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911): “We may spend our days in what we call our religious duties, and we may fill our devotions with favour, and still may be miserable. Nothing can set our hearts at rest but a real acquaintance with God.”
• All the disciplines are means to an end - you need to know Jesus Christ intimately.
I believe it is by God’s leading that I read this article by chance, on Friday - “Christianity in a Nutshell” by Robert Solomon in Oct 2009, Methodist Message. [Read portions].
So why am I saying today? Relationship with Jesus is paramount.
How is your relationship with Him today?
• In the past, I tend to focus on the outward, and ask questions like: So how is your QT? How is your attendance in church on Sundays? How is your Bible reading? All these are good, but I’m focusing on the laws, the DOING part.
• The fundamental question is: How is your relationship with Jesus today?
• John 5:39-40 “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” You focus on the means, but not the end purpose.
• You can be attending church at not right with God. You can be reading the Bible with an attitude of a Pharisees, feeling proud about doing your part and not really knowing the heart of Christ and obeying His Word.
The Lord dwells in our heart today. He speaks to us constantly through the Holy Spirit. We listen to Him. We talk to Him.
• We grow because we meet Him. We grow because we hear Him. We grow because we trust Him.
• 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
• We are not trying hard to be good. Since we are united with Christ, He is living out that righteous life through us.
• The closer you get to Him, the more you reflect His beauty.
Focus on GETTING TO KNOW HIM MORE.
